This invention relates to a rotor for fluid flow machines, the rotor being of the kind comprising a rotor body having a peripheral groove, each side of the groove having a flange adjacent the top of the groove, an array of blades each having a root shaped to engage the groove under the respective flanges and to be slideable along the groove under the respective flanges and to be slideable along the groove, at least one of the flanges having a first recess to enable the blades to be sequentially inserted into and withdrawn from the groove, and a filler member for the first recess. Such a rotor will hereinafter be referred to as a rotor of the kind hereinbefore described.
It is known from U.K. Pat. No. 1,015,698 to provide in a rotor of the kind as hereinbefore described a filler member which is located in the groove and recesses beneath the blade platforms and has a screw member which can be threaded out of the filler member from the groove so as to engage the bottom of the groove and urge the filler member against the undersides of the blade platforms. However, such a filler member may in use become loose or may become bonded in position due to high operational temperatures.
It is also known from U.K. Pat. No. 1,187,227 to provide in a rotor of the kind hereinbefore described a filler member which is resilient and is pre-loaded before insertion so as after insertion to act on the circumferentially extending side walls of the recesses. However such a filler member, because it acts on the side walls of the recesses, imparts undesirable additional stress on the rotor.
It is an object of the invention to provide in a rotor of the kind hereinbefore described wherein the above disadvantages may be overcome.